7 FREE SCHOOL MEALS PDF 249 KB
Cabinet Member
– Councillor Beca Brown
To consider
a report on the above.
Additional documents:
Decision:
To accept the report and note the
observations.
Minutes:
Submitted - the progress report of the Cabinet Member for Education on
the free school meals project as a result of extending
the scheme across the primary sector.
The Cabinet Member set out the context and the
members were then given the opportunity to ask questions and offer
observations.
It was
noted that they wished to thank the Welsh Government for bringing this project
to fruition, through an agreement with Plaid Cymru, and Cyngor Gwynedd was
congratulated for distributing the scheme so quickly to every school in
Gwynedd. The Service was also thanked for the work of adapting / upgrading the
schools' kitchens, and especially to all kitchen staff and cooks for their hard
work.
It was
noted that there was no motivation for the parents of children eligible for
free school meals to submit an application to the
Authority because every child was now eligible for free school meals, and
therefore the school or the county missed out financially. In response, it was
noted that:-
·
The point was valid, but the application from parents
was for general benefits, including school uniform grant, resources etc.
instead of only being an application for school meals.
·
In terms of the way the Authority was funded, the
schools received a sum of money per head for learners who were eligible for
free school meals.
·
The review from last summer had highlighted that
Gwynedd was the county with the lowest level of children eligible for these
benefits.
·
A Team within the Department contacted families to
ensure that everyone who was eligible to be registered for free school meals
did so.
·
Some parents were not aware of free school meals, but
more and more people had come to know about it by now.
It was noted that it was important to emphasise to
parents that applying for free school meals opened the door to other
advantages.
It was noted that it was encouraging to see from the
report that some headteachers believed that pupils' behaviour, dedication and attainment had improved in the afternoons as
a result of receiving school meals.
In terms of the challenge of recruiting staff to the
Catering Service, it was enquired whether the plan to package jobs, for
example, working in a school kitchen over lunchtime and providing care in the
afternoon, had come to fruition. In response, it was noted that:-
·
Recruiting was complex as
fields such as Education and Care tried to attract staff from the same pool of
people.
·
The possibility of creating
a purposeful plan to package jobs was very low in this difficult situation, but
an element of that already happened as people chose to work in more than one
job to increase their hours. However, it became more difficult to find people
who were happy to travel from one work situation to another, and possibly
without a car.
It was asked whether there was an intention to put political pressures on the Welsh Government to extend the free school meals project to the secondary sector. ... view the full minutes text for item 7